> On Dec 4, 2019, at 3:40 AM, Willem Ferguson <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I am wondering whether there is a need to reorganise the Preferences settings > to make it more user friendly. Currently there are three main weaknesses of > the Preferences UI: > > 1) Preference settings are in obscure places. For instance "Show unused > cylinder in Equipment tab" is under the Profile settings and "Default > cylinder is under the general settings. > > 2) The examples above show that related preferences (in this case cylinder > use) are located in different tabs. Other case is the settings relating to > Media thumbnails (Profile tab) and ffmpg settings for video thumbnails > (General settings). > > 3) Some settings are not clear and actually obscure to the person not > understanding the UI. For instance "Reset dive computers" on the main tab > actually relates to dive downloads from dive computers and the "Import from > dc" main menu item. The two Clear Settings preference item needs to be split, > appearing on different tabs. >
YES. I find the preferences one of those things where I keep thinking "Gee that's a mess", but I never have time to actually do anything about it. So yes, wholeheartedly yes. > The current interface is difficult to operate for those not conversant with > the history of this interface and who has not read the user manual in detail. > We need a Preferences UI that is much more intuitive. > > I do not think that the following preferences tabs need change. They are very > specific and currently focus on single topics. > > Units, Language, Georeferences, Network. Network is kinda awkward, because the Subsurface Cloud account is in there and that seems not all that intuitive to many users. > Although I do not use the Georeferences facility, it is probably very useful > and effort should probably go into making that a more-frequently used > facility by adding some text or other help that facilitates its use. > > I see no use for the General Preferences tab as it is unspecific and actually > makes the preferences UI more difficult to work. > > My proposal is to create several more tabs on the lefthand of the Preferences > panel, yielding a total of maybe up to 12 or 15 items. Items that should > feature on the tab list on the LH side of the Preferences UI should probably > be: Be careful to keep the preferences total height below 768 pixels - we still have users on old laptops with 1024x768 screens - and preferences where you can't click on "OK" are of very limited use :-) > Dive log (e.g. default divelog location and dive log name) Maybe this is a better place for the cloud storage credentials? > Display (e.g. font, animation speed) > > Equipment (e.g. cylinder-related matters) > > Import from dc > > Media > > The Cloud settings are currently a frequent source of user problems and maybe > that should be locatable by its own tab. Or that - but it's just one line. > Clear settings to default > > The current Profile tab should probably be renamed Tech diving preferences or > something similar. I would remove the section with Misc settings. But those aren't JUST about tech diving. We need a better term, though. > An obvious aspect that needs attention is that, if the number of tabs > increase, several may only have one or two settings as is currently the case > with the Georeferences tab. This may appear to waste the efficiency of > presenting preferences information. An obvious possibility is to keep > preferences for more than one tab on a single page. For instance the > preferences for Cloud and Proxy may remain on a single panel as they > currently are. Selecting the Cloud icon on the lefthand side opens the > appropriate tab (with both Proxy and Cloud preferences), but highlights the > Cloud preferences in some way, maybe using a blue frame. In such a case more > than one icon on the lefthand side may actually open the same tab, but each > highlighting its own particular setting(s). Not sure if that's really worth the programing effort. > The overall objective is to make the preferences as easy as possible for > uninitiated users. Upon entering the Preferences UI, the user should be able > to locate the appropriate preference rapidly. I would probably try to enable > a clickable link with each setting that opens the user manual at the > appropriate text. > > Any suggestions? Thanks for addressing this. It really is an area that is well overdue for improvement. /D _______________________________________________ subsurface mailing list [email protected] http://lists.subsurface-divelog.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/subsurface
